Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ No Time Like the Past ❯ The Cost of Duty ( Chapter 3 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Tempestor 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 131 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 131 | Status: Work In Progress
NO TIME LIKE THE PAST
CHAPTER 3 (THE COST OF DUTY)
"What burden you say? In no longer being a chess piece in the great cosmic game of history... you are removed from the board, forever to watch and record. It is your duty to either destroy or maintain the balance of the events that have occurred... despite the beauty of the pieces in question."
He had hurt her beyond words, her heart a glaring weakness. Setsuna sat in the Tokyo Diner totally absorbed in thought, sipping at the coffee in front of her. The slight burn of the coffee as it proceeded past her lips her only reminder she was alive. "That is why you can't beat me, you haven't learned to kill that which no longer serves you... your heart." Tempest's last words to her from the night before had struck a nerve... she was as perplexed as she had been in the alleyway. Her love for Tempest was obvious to him and she learned that he can and would play on it.
Deep down, she knew that he loved her as well... their embrace as they hovered among the stars was too real. Why would he have stayed behind? Why if he really was just playing her like a fool did he risk his life for her? She refused to believe that he acted on his own accord, if he were not then why was he given a limited amount of time to stay in the plane of reality? Someone or something was pulling the strings... but what.
The truth was that she was scared... scared of what their current "relationship" would become. Setsuna was sure of one thing though, one and one only. That was that whatever the cost... he must be stopped by any means necessary. She felt that her feelings were insignificant next to the sanctity of time as she had every second of time for the eons she had watched the gate.
"Miss... hello... miss?" Her waiter was standing beside of her table and trying to get her attention she noticed as she snapped out of her daze. "Oh I'm sorry... I must have been day dreaming," said Setsuna. The waiter couldn't have been more than 17 years old... his green eyes, brown hair, and dimples gave him a boyishly sweet face, one that you could trust with anything. "Its ok miss... you have been here a while is anything bothering you," asked the boy. Setsuna looked outside and noticed that rain had started to fall and said in a low tone, "Yes, why can people never change... in spite of duty? Why can't we break the ties that bind for just one moment... to experience life on the inside looking at the world about you for what it is... and not what it will become?" The waiter stood and looked puzzled for a moment and then a grin spread over his face, he began to chuckle slightly. Setsuna gasped and she nearly dropped her coffee but instead slammed it down on the table. His eyes had changed from green to blue and they glowed with an eerie light.
He stood still and words began to issue out of his mouth but not in his normal pubescent voice. Then Setsuna felt that familiar disturbance in the space-time continuum.
"Perhaps it is because we... like most mortals realize that the ties that bind are useless to resist. Look at them... they are sheep, they are moved by a force that they cannot possibly understand as we do. Teachers, lawyers, doctors, mothers, fathers, rapists, murderers, and even guardians of the gate of time are all bound by something. For us, it happens to be preserving the balance between order and chaos... that ancient struggle as old as time itself." Setsuna felt the familiar tugging of her heart as the mere sound of his voice brought out her weakness. Setsuna reached up and yanked the young boy's body into the booth across from her and they began to whisper now.
Setsuna spoke first, "How dare you call yourself a guardian. You have done nothing but try to disrupt the fabric of time itself from the moment I first saw you in the Antarctic. Order and Chaos are in balance Tempest... don't you think I understand that as well as you do? I stood by and observed the utter destruction of Queen Serenity's haven the Moon Kingdom and even Crystal Tokyo. Those people were dear to me... and yet I did not interfere for time was running its natural course. What you are doing is wrong... it's evil and you seek to destroy all that has happened." The boy began to speak once more, "You are mistaken... Serena and her merry band are those that are in error, that girl has defied every natural law of the universe and against all odds preserved this utter chaos that we now call Earth. I don't expect someone like you to understand Setsuna... you are too weak to see the truth as I have when I was shown the evidence."
Setsuna replied, "What? What evidence Tempest? Who has been telling you these things... you and I both know that you act against your will in doing what you do." Setsuna held back the tears that wanted to come and maintained a face like stone, "Your love for me has proven that... that is the evidence that I have seen." The boy's face grew tense and a tear fell from his eye, which he quickly wiped away..., he seemed to be struggling with something. "Setsuna, there is great wisdom in your words and you are right about... about my feelings for ... your lies are obvious I came here for a reason you heretic." Setsuna quickly interjected, "Tempest I can see that you are fighting whatever it is..." but she was interrupted with a sharp statement. The boys face grew into an expression of pure and unadulterated rage and he stated, "Go to the park in an hour... you will find a time gate there, I'm giving you a sporting chance this time to stop me Setsuna. I'm going to prove to you once and for all that you are NOT fit as the avatar of order that you claim to be." Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red atop the building across from the diner.
The boy scowled and said, "It's about time you realized I was here... you know you really are hopeless... blinded by your emotion." Then his head dropped to the table with a dull thud. Setsuna pulled a number of bills out of her purse and slammed them on the table... she ran outside and gripped her transformation stick. There was the sound of thunder and the gloom of the rain falling about her... but Tempest had vanished. Setsuna knew that whatever he had planned for her would most definitely try her emotionally but at this point she didn't care. Setsuna said aloud, "If the only way I'm going to reach you is through battle... then so be it."
Meanwhile, in the darkness of space two forces stirred. A disturbance had awakened them... the forces began to speak with one another. One said to the other, "Do you think we should?" The other force replied, "I don't think it's a question of if... it's a question of how... the universe screams in agony at the battles being fought between them." The two forces sped off towards Earth... knowing that their help was going to be required to end the conflict.
Setsuna had reached the park exactly an hour after her encounter with Tempest and she began to sense a small but distinct disturbance in time. It was his energy signature... and she was drawn by it as she was to him. Within moments... she had found it well concealed in a grove of trees. It appeared as a small indentation in the air... a passing human would have thought nothing of it, probably blaming it on their drinks or the light glinting off of the leaves of the tree. Setsuna breathed deeply and reached into her pocket to retrieve her transformation stick. It glinted in the moonlight and she said, "You who has caused me so much pain but whom I am destined to serve... it is again to you I turn." She lifted the transformation stick high into the air and shouted, "PLUTO PLANET POWER!"
Setsuna spun and waved the stick in a circle around her... purple sparks of energy falling and searing the ground. A jet of mists from the gate of time enveloped her with explosive force and she felt the familiar chill... the wraiths screamed. The stick began to widen and extend and she felt power suddenly course through it, it had become the staff. She stepped out of the mist once again as she had so many times before as Sailor Pluto.
Pluto reached out with the garnet orb and brushed the small indentation in the air. It opened into a vortex of red and black. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped through.
She was still in the park but she could sense that she had been moved about 6 months into the future... to what event she did not know. Then she heard mumbling in the brush in front of her. The moonlight flashed off of the staff as she crept over towards the noise and she caught a view of a red and black cape in the tree above her. Tempest was there looking down at her with a wicked grin upon his face... he floated down slowly from the trees and landed on his feet beside of her.
He reached out his hand and delicately placed his finger below her chin... raising her face to his. Even now Setsuna wanted to reach out and bring him to her but she resisted. Tempest spoke quietly, "You followed me my dear Setsuna, as I knew you would. We guardians always are ones for competition. This time you will not win my lovely... your heart wont let you." Sailor Pluto replied, "Make no mistake Tempest... whatever you think about my vulnerability I will stop you and believe me I've seen enough blood... but if the only way to reach you is by force, it is force you will receive." She grabbed Tempest's hand and threw it down to his side, brandishing her staff. Tempest smiled and placed his hand on her staff... pushing it down. He whispered, "You're cute when you're angry." Then Tempest winked at her and moved faster than the eye could perceive to the other side of the glade. Sailor Pluto watched intently at the events unfolding before her and attempted to discern the forms of the two individuals she saw before her.
The young girl had tears in her eyes and she was pulling at a large object and screaming in pain. The man lying on the ground was aiding her and trying his best to remove the debris. He had long, brown, and curly hair and he whispered softly to the girl beside him, "I guess this means no chocolate parfaits." The object lodged in his chest looked like a piece of bark and it crackled with energy. Pluto knew what she was seeing... this was the death of Nephlite. The more she pulled the more pain that they both were in... the glade was alight with flickering sparks. Pluto turned her head slightly to the left and noticed that the other senshi were approaching... all of them were moved by the site of what they were seeing. Nephlite had rescued Molly from certain death at the hands of some Negaverse monsters involved in a plot to overthrow Nephlite as general and had received this injury. The scouts had just finished vanquishing them no doubt... as their bodies were battle worn and that appeared exhausted.
According to history, Nephlite was supposed to die and Molly would grieve without end over him. If Nephlite had not died there was a possibility that information about the sailor senshi could be extracted from Molly's mind by Queen Beryl or from Nephlite himself. Sailor Pluto watched Tempest intently... trying to determine what plot he had devised. Tempest smiled and gestured towards the ground... his cape was slithering over the ground as a small tendril to connect with Nephlite's back. Nephlite gasped and his body seemed to be disintegrating from the energy drain... he shuddered a few times then closed his eyes. Molly began to cry out to the heavens as if she could somehow change what had just taken place. Molly shouted, "No Nephlite don't leave me! I love you! Come back... please come back!" Suddenly, Nephlite stood up and started to remove the thorn from his chest... Molly's eyes lit up with joy. Sailor Pluto looked over at Tempest who was laughing hysterically at the site. Molly wiped the tears from her eyes and Nephlite smiled down at her.
Sailor Pluto realized with horror how Tempest was testing her. She had to preserve order and the integrity of the timeline but in order to do so... she must take Nephlite's life. Sailor Pluto clenched her fist and became so angered that the garnet orb pulsed with power and began to give off a faint glow in the glade. Tempest stood and crossed his arms in front of him with a defiant look upon his façade. Sailor Pluto stood and held the staff in front of her and the garnet orb began to pulse. It grew brighter with her every thought. Her thoughts were a storm, "... you know you really are hopeless... blinded by your emotion, that is why you can't beat me, you haven't learned to kill that which no longer serves you... your heart, ... you are too weak to see the truth, why can people never change... in spite of duty?" Sailor Pluto uttered the words, "Forgive me Molly."
Sailor Pluto pointed the staff towards Nephlite's back at the open wound and quietly whispered, "Dead Scream." Mists gathered at her feet and proceeded up her body to reach their apex at the garnet orb... and by concentrating on the focus of her power she causes the force of the attack to change. It was a small beam of energy... but it was enough. It emitted from the staff and sailed through the air to connect with Nephlite's back.
He arched and shuddered for a moment... then his eyes grew wide. Molly reached out to catch him as he fell to the ground... she screamed. Nephlite whispered, "Goodbye... my love." He completely vanished from her arms but the glade was suddenly aglow with many beautiful spheres of light... rising to the heavens, by loving Molly for just those few hours... his soul was free. Pluto's stomach wrenched and she swallowed her rage for Tempest. Molly was crying again and Pluto longed to run to her... comfort her and tell her it was for the best but she knew that she could not. Pluto had killed her heart once again... it was those many years ago at the destruction of the moon kingdom.
Sailor Pluto flew over the glade and delivered a flying kick to Tempest's chin. The force of the blow was so great that he was knocked onto his back in the nearby field. Sailor Pluto shouted, "Let that be a lesson that my reverence to time is absolute. You have made me kill for no reason... and for that you will feel my pain." Sailor Pluto shouted, "DEAD SCREAM!" The blast cratered the ground that Tempest dodged from and his mouth was wide in surprise. Tempest stammered, "I underestimated you Setsuna... I will not do so again." He placed his hand to his forehead and suddenly Pluto felt a piercing sensation in her mind. She dropped to her knees in anguish and her screams filled the night air.
Sailor Pluto began to stand as the sensation died away and he was ready for her.. he delivered a kick to her stomach, which knocked the air out of her with a groan. Tempest then wrapped a tendril of the cloak around Pluto's throat and lifted her into the air. She pulled at the cloak frantically, trying to pry it lose, but it kept slipping from her grasp. She felt the world start to grow dim as asphyxiation set in. "So this is the cost of duty," she thought as Molly's wails echoed through her mind. As she looked down into the crystal eyes of her killer... she thought she saw a tear begin to fall.
TO BE CONTINUED
EXPECT THE NEXT INSTALLMENT SOON.. PLEASE R&R
CHAPTER 3 (THE COST OF DUTY)
"What burden you say? In no longer being a chess piece in the great cosmic game of history... you are removed from the board, forever to watch and record. It is your duty to either destroy or maintain the balance of the events that have occurred... despite the beauty of the pieces in question."
He had hurt her beyond words, her heart a glaring weakness. Setsuna sat in the Tokyo Diner totally absorbed in thought, sipping at the coffee in front of her. The slight burn of the coffee as it proceeded past her lips her only reminder she was alive. "That is why you can't beat me, you haven't learned to kill that which no longer serves you... your heart." Tempest's last words to her from the night before had struck a nerve... she was as perplexed as she had been in the alleyway. Her love for Tempest was obvious to him and she learned that he can and would play on it.
Deep down, she knew that he loved her as well... their embrace as they hovered among the stars was too real. Why would he have stayed behind? Why if he really was just playing her like a fool did he risk his life for her? She refused to believe that he acted on his own accord, if he were not then why was he given a limited amount of time to stay in the plane of reality? Someone or something was pulling the strings... but what.
The truth was that she was scared... scared of what their current "relationship" would become. Setsuna was sure of one thing though, one and one only. That was that whatever the cost... he must be stopped by any means necessary. She felt that her feelings were insignificant next to the sanctity of time as she had every second of time for the eons she had watched the gate.
"Miss... hello... miss?" Her waiter was standing beside of her table and trying to get her attention she noticed as she snapped out of her daze. "Oh I'm sorry... I must have been day dreaming," said Setsuna. The waiter couldn't have been more than 17 years old... his green eyes, brown hair, and dimples gave him a boyishly sweet face, one that you could trust with anything. "Its ok miss... you have been here a while is anything bothering you," asked the boy. Setsuna looked outside and noticed that rain had started to fall and said in a low tone, "Yes, why can people never change... in spite of duty? Why can't we break the ties that bind for just one moment... to experience life on the inside looking at the world about you for what it is... and not what it will become?" The waiter stood and looked puzzled for a moment and then a grin spread over his face, he began to chuckle slightly. Setsuna gasped and she nearly dropped her coffee but instead slammed it down on the table. His eyes had changed from green to blue and they glowed with an eerie light.
He stood still and words began to issue out of his mouth but not in his normal pubescent voice. Then Setsuna felt that familiar disturbance in the space-time continuum.
"Perhaps it is because we... like most mortals realize that the ties that bind are useless to resist. Look at them... they are sheep, they are moved by a force that they cannot possibly understand as we do. Teachers, lawyers, doctors, mothers, fathers, rapists, murderers, and even guardians of the gate of time are all bound by something. For us, it happens to be preserving the balance between order and chaos... that ancient struggle as old as time itself." Setsuna felt the familiar tugging of her heart as the mere sound of his voice brought out her weakness. Setsuna reached up and yanked the young boy's body into the booth across from her and they began to whisper now.
Setsuna spoke first, "How dare you call yourself a guardian. You have done nothing but try to disrupt the fabric of time itself from the moment I first saw you in the Antarctic. Order and Chaos are in balance Tempest... don't you think I understand that as well as you do? I stood by and observed the utter destruction of Queen Serenity's haven the Moon Kingdom and even Crystal Tokyo. Those people were dear to me... and yet I did not interfere for time was running its natural course. What you are doing is wrong... it's evil and you seek to destroy all that has happened." The boy began to speak once more, "You are mistaken... Serena and her merry band are those that are in error, that girl has defied every natural law of the universe and against all odds preserved this utter chaos that we now call Earth. I don't expect someone like you to understand Setsuna... you are too weak to see the truth as I have when I was shown the evidence."
Setsuna replied, "What? What evidence Tempest? Who has been telling you these things... you and I both know that you act against your will in doing what you do." Setsuna held back the tears that wanted to come and maintained a face like stone, "Your love for me has proven that... that is the evidence that I have seen." The boy's face grew tense and a tear fell from his eye, which he quickly wiped away..., he seemed to be struggling with something. "Setsuna, there is great wisdom in your words and you are right about... about my feelings for ... your lies are obvious I came here for a reason you heretic." Setsuna quickly interjected, "Tempest I can see that you are fighting whatever it is..." but she was interrupted with a sharp statement. The boys face grew into an expression of pure and unadulterated rage and he stated, "Go to the park in an hour... you will find a time gate there, I'm giving you a sporting chance this time to stop me Setsuna. I'm going to prove to you once and for all that you are NOT fit as the avatar of order that you claim to be." Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of red atop the building across from the diner.
The boy scowled and said, "It's about time you realized I was here... you know you really are hopeless... blinded by your emotion." Then his head dropped to the table with a dull thud. Setsuna pulled a number of bills out of her purse and slammed them on the table... she ran outside and gripped her transformation stick. There was the sound of thunder and the gloom of the rain falling about her... but Tempest had vanished. Setsuna knew that whatever he had planned for her would most definitely try her emotionally but at this point she didn't care. Setsuna said aloud, "If the only way I'm going to reach you is through battle... then so be it."
Meanwhile, in the darkness of space two forces stirred. A disturbance had awakened them... the forces began to speak with one another. One said to the other, "Do you think we should?" The other force replied, "I don't think it's a question of if... it's a question of how... the universe screams in agony at the battles being fought between them." The two forces sped off towards Earth... knowing that their help was going to be required to end the conflict.
Setsuna had reached the park exactly an hour after her encounter with Tempest and she began to sense a small but distinct disturbance in time. It was his energy signature... and she was drawn by it as she was to him. Within moments... she had found it well concealed in a grove of trees. It appeared as a small indentation in the air... a passing human would have thought nothing of it, probably blaming it on their drinks or the light glinting off of the leaves of the tree. Setsuna breathed deeply and reached into her pocket to retrieve her transformation stick. It glinted in the moonlight and she said, "You who has caused me so much pain but whom I am destined to serve... it is again to you I turn." She lifted the transformation stick high into the air and shouted, "PLUTO PLANET POWER!"
Setsuna spun and waved the stick in a circle around her... purple sparks of energy falling and searing the ground. A jet of mists from the gate of time enveloped her with explosive force and she felt the familiar chill... the wraiths screamed. The stick began to widen and extend and she felt power suddenly course through it, it had become the staff. She stepped out of the mist once again as she had so many times before as Sailor Pluto.
Pluto reached out with the garnet orb and brushed the small indentation in the air. It opened into a vortex of red and black. Then, taking a deep breath, she stepped through.
She was still in the park but she could sense that she had been moved about 6 months into the future... to what event she did not know. Then she heard mumbling in the brush in front of her. The moonlight flashed off of the staff as she crept over towards the noise and she caught a view of a red and black cape in the tree above her. Tempest was there looking down at her with a wicked grin upon his face... he floated down slowly from the trees and landed on his feet beside of her.
He reached out his hand and delicately placed his finger below her chin... raising her face to his. Even now Setsuna wanted to reach out and bring him to her but she resisted. Tempest spoke quietly, "You followed me my dear Setsuna, as I knew you would. We guardians always are ones for competition. This time you will not win my lovely... your heart wont let you." Sailor Pluto replied, "Make no mistake Tempest... whatever you think about my vulnerability I will stop you and believe me I've seen enough blood... but if the only way to reach you is by force, it is force you will receive." She grabbed Tempest's hand and threw it down to his side, brandishing her staff. Tempest smiled and placed his hand on her staff... pushing it down. He whispered, "You're cute when you're angry." Then Tempest winked at her and moved faster than the eye could perceive to the other side of the glade. Sailor Pluto watched intently at the events unfolding before her and attempted to discern the forms of the two individuals she saw before her.
The young girl had tears in her eyes and she was pulling at a large object and screaming in pain. The man lying on the ground was aiding her and trying his best to remove the debris. He had long, brown, and curly hair and he whispered softly to the girl beside him, "I guess this means no chocolate parfaits." The object lodged in his chest looked like a piece of bark and it crackled with energy. Pluto knew what she was seeing... this was the death of Nephlite. The more she pulled the more pain that they both were in... the glade was alight with flickering sparks. Pluto turned her head slightly to the left and noticed that the other senshi were approaching... all of them were moved by the site of what they were seeing. Nephlite had rescued Molly from certain death at the hands of some Negaverse monsters involved in a plot to overthrow Nephlite as general and had received this injury. The scouts had just finished vanquishing them no doubt... as their bodies were battle worn and that appeared exhausted.
According to history, Nephlite was supposed to die and Molly would grieve without end over him. If Nephlite had not died there was a possibility that information about the sailor senshi could be extracted from Molly's mind by Queen Beryl or from Nephlite himself. Sailor Pluto watched Tempest intently... trying to determine what plot he had devised. Tempest smiled and gestured towards the ground... his cape was slithering over the ground as a small tendril to connect with Nephlite's back. Nephlite gasped and his body seemed to be disintegrating from the energy drain... he shuddered a few times then closed his eyes. Molly began to cry out to the heavens as if she could somehow change what had just taken place. Molly shouted, "No Nephlite don't leave me! I love you! Come back... please come back!" Suddenly, Nephlite stood up and started to remove the thorn from his chest... Molly's eyes lit up with joy. Sailor Pluto looked over at Tempest who was laughing hysterically at the site. Molly wiped the tears from her eyes and Nephlite smiled down at her.
Sailor Pluto realized with horror how Tempest was testing her. She had to preserve order and the integrity of the timeline but in order to do so... she must take Nephlite's life. Sailor Pluto clenched her fist and became so angered that the garnet orb pulsed with power and began to give off a faint glow in the glade. Tempest stood and crossed his arms in front of him with a defiant look upon his façade. Sailor Pluto stood and held the staff in front of her and the garnet orb began to pulse. It grew brighter with her every thought. Her thoughts were a storm, "... you know you really are hopeless... blinded by your emotion, that is why you can't beat me, you haven't learned to kill that which no longer serves you... your heart, ... you are too weak to see the truth, why can people never change... in spite of duty?" Sailor Pluto uttered the words, "Forgive me Molly."
Sailor Pluto pointed the staff towards Nephlite's back at the open wound and quietly whispered, "Dead Scream." Mists gathered at her feet and proceeded up her body to reach their apex at the garnet orb... and by concentrating on the focus of her power she causes the force of the attack to change. It was a small beam of energy... but it was enough. It emitted from the staff and sailed through the air to connect with Nephlite's back.
He arched and shuddered for a moment... then his eyes grew wide. Molly reached out to catch him as he fell to the ground... she screamed. Nephlite whispered, "Goodbye... my love." He completely vanished from her arms but the glade was suddenly aglow with many beautiful spheres of light... rising to the heavens, by loving Molly for just those few hours... his soul was free. Pluto's stomach wrenched and she swallowed her rage for Tempest. Molly was crying again and Pluto longed to run to her... comfort her and tell her it was for the best but she knew that she could not. Pluto had killed her heart once again... it was those many years ago at the destruction of the moon kingdom.
Sailor Pluto flew over the glade and delivered a flying kick to Tempest's chin. The force of the blow was so great that he was knocked onto his back in the nearby field. Sailor Pluto shouted, "Let that be a lesson that my reverence to time is absolute. You have made me kill for no reason... and for that you will feel my pain." Sailor Pluto shouted, "DEAD SCREAM!" The blast cratered the ground that Tempest dodged from and his mouth was wide in surprise. Tempest stammered, "I underestimated you Setsuna... I will not do so again." He placed his hand to his forehead and suddenly Pluto felt a piercing sensation in her mind. She dropped to her knees in anguish and her screams filled the night air.
Sailor Pluto began to stand as the sensation died away and he was ready for her.. he delivered a kick to her stomach, which knocked the air out of her with a groan. Tempest then wrapped a tendril of the cloak around Pluto's throat and lifted her into the air. She pulled at the cloak frantically, trying to pry it lose, but it kept slipping from her grasp. She felt the world start to grow dim as asphyxiation set in. "So this is the cost of duty," she thought as Molly's wails echoed through her mind. As she looked down into the crystal eyes of her killer... she thought she saw a tear begin to fall.
TO BE CONTINUED
EXPECT THE NEXT INSTALLMENT SOON.. PLEASE R&R